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Transforming Conflict has been pioneering relational and restorative approaches in school settings, childrens' homes and in the arena of social care, housing and youth justice since 1994.

We offer training and consultancy to people (staff teams and individuals) who want to engage in a more caring, considerate and respectful way and who want to be treated themselves in this way.

Our training and support will help people at a personal, as well as a professional, level to deal more effectively with their own conflicts and challenges and to help others to do so.

All our training - in its content and its delivery - is inspired by the philosophy and principles behind Restorative Justice and we are also great fans of NonViolent Communication, originally developed by Marshal Rosenberg.

People who engage with us will meet much that is familiar - and in fact we build on the existing expertise and experience of those who attend our courses. However everyone we have ever trained has also learned new ways to do things, and some have experienced life-changing insights that have changed their practice forever.

We offer a clear, consistent, replicable model of practice - whilst also unleashing people's creativity, inspiring them to take what the have learnt and adapt it for their own setting.

After our courses people are often inspired to make changes to the way they work, and even go on to transform the culture in which they work. Issues of concern such as inter-personal conflicts, back-biting, bullying, threats of violence and low-level disruption can become a thing of the past.

Our courses are very practical - people can make a start putting what they have learnt into practice from the day after the course. We also provide some great resources to share with those who take a more reflective approach, and want to look at evidence and theory before taking the plunge.

We are one of the first training providers in the UK to have been awarded the prestigious Restorative Justice Council (RJC) award for training providers, in recognition of the high quality of both the content of our courses (which are linked to National Occupational Standards for Restorative Practice) and our service delivery. You know you are in safe hands with us.

For further inspiration have a look at Belinda Hopkins’ new edited book, Restorative Theory in Practice, in which 10 practitioners offer different theoretical explanations for what is happening in a restorative meeting. This book will deepen your understanding and fine-tune your practice.

We can help you work towards and achieve the Restorative Justice Council Restorative Services Quality Mark (RSQM)

We are proud and thrilled that the first two schools to be awarded this prestigious award are two with whom we have been working, offering consultancy, training and ongoing support, for many years. To find out more about this important award visit: Click Here

Childshill School in Barnet was one of the first primary schools in the borough to send staff along for our five day course for teachers. We ended up training the whole staff and have been back since to offer refresher training for new staff, including the new headteacher. The school featured in our own introductory film and has also made their own about their journey which you can watch on our film page: Click Here

You can learn more about what the award means to staff, students and parents on their website: Click Here

Monmouth Comprehensive School gained the award in July 2014 after 3 years of working hard to train as many staff as possible to integrate restorative principles into teaching and learning as well as into relationship management in the classroom and around the school. Transforming Conflict’s Director Belinda Hopkins has led all the training at the school and is now training trainers on the staff to carry on this work

The impact of implementing a restorative approach across the school speaks for itself:

Exclusions are down by 93%, with only 13 days lost last year due to exclusion

Detentions and merit awards are no longer used as extrinsic behaviour control mechanisms and instead young people are encouraged to develop internal self-regulation

Beyond the school gates referrals to the Youth Offending Service are down 78% and anti social behaviour attributable to young people in the town is down by 48%

In the academic year 2013 – 2014 the school had its best ever results at both A level and GCES which it attributes in part to the restorative culture which ensures that the needs of staff and students is attended to and me, and thus has enabled everyone to give of their best.

Staff absenteeism with a stress-related tag is down by over 60% , which represents a saving of over £60,000 – a testimony to how beneficial the approach can be for staff health and wellbeing.

Attendance is at its highest ever level – over 94% and rising

Listen to Deputy Head Andy Williams talking about the school in the film on our Film Page: Click Here

We are signatories to the Restorative Justice Council's Code of Practice for Trainers and thus to National Occupational Standards. Our training courses can be tailored to meet the needs of schools, care homes, youth offending services, and all other agencies supporting children and families.